Wednesday, August 31, 2022

First Day of School 2022

You're off to great places.
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So get on your way!

School Year 2022-2023 is looking bright already with these stars :)


Brendan (age 6)
First Grade
Enjoys Soccer, Art and Piano


Declan (age 8)
Third Grade
Enjoys Soccer, Basketball and Playing Outside


Alexander (age 11)
Sixth Grade
Enjoys Piano, Reading and Telling Jokes


Maggie (age 14)
Ninth Grade
Enjoys Volleyball, Basketball and Babysitting

Kindergarten Maggie vs. Freshman Maggie:


Eamon (age 15)
Tenth Grade
Enjoys Soccer, Basketball and Reading


Andrew (age 17)
Twelfth Grade
Enjoys Soccer, Sports Cards and Hanging with Friends

Kindergarten Andrew vs. Senior Andrew

It goes fast guys, it's true, but it's a lot of fun too.

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Last Week of Summer Moments

JP (age 19) arrived safely in Gaming, Austria and is living his best life already - staying at the beautiful campus, touring a 1000 year old monastery in Melk, and having his first taste of *root*beer ;)





When he was at the airport with his girlfriend and another friend, I asked him to send me a photo and he sent me this:


And I'm like, do you know those people?  And he says "No but you asked me to send you a photo."  Teenagers are funnnnnnn!

Monday, August 22, 2022

Brendan's Birthday Bash

 One


Two


Three


Four


Five


And now our baby, Brendan Joseph is SIX!!


Because his birthday is at the end of the summer, we usually take a family vacation sometime near his birthday.  His last three birthdays (or the ones he can remember) have been spent in North Conway, NH or Maryland or Laconia, NH so now when it's time for his big day to come around, he asks "Where are we going?"  This year we are staying home BUT we surprised the kids with a day trip to the Cape Cod Inflatable Water Park

The night before his birthday, we had pizza (his choice) with his godmother and my parents where he got a few gifts from his wishlist, like bath bombs (don't all 6 year old boys ask for this?!?)



And a Bluey stuffy and activity book :)




Then he opened a card saying that we were going to the Inflatable water park the next day!

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

How Do You Say Goodbye in German?

Answer:  Auf Wiedersehen

The real question is How Do You Say Goodbye When You Don't Want To?

JP (age 19) left for his semester abroad in Austria, where he will be studying at an 800+ year old monastery through Franciscan University.  


This is also the spot where Phil and I met in January 2000.  It is an absolutely magical semester spent travelling through Europe and I am so very excited for JP's adventures.

But we will miss him so much, I mean just look at our bookends saying goodbye:


Over the weekend, one of my brother's family and one of my sister's family were able to come spend the day and it was nice for JP to see them before he left.  We got pizza and ate it at the lighthouse:


Then headed to the ice cream shop where JP has been working over 40 hours a week all summer.  Seriously, that kid worked hard to earn money to spend travelling this fall.  They have four days of classes with 3 day weekends for students to travel.  The whole school goes on a few trips together, including Rome and Assisi for a week, but other than that, students are on their own to make plans.  JP is hoping to go to Greece for his 10 Day break which will include multiple train and plane tickets.  But YOLO!!

We had one last family dinner with Gammy and Grandpa before he left.

Because I know you're interested - grilled pork chops, roasted cauliflower, rice pilaf, applesauce, and that beautiful fruit dessert from my mom.


I woke up at 5:30 the next morning and couldn't fall back asleep knowing I would have to say goodbye to JP, so I did what any normal mom would do... stress-bake.


Again, because I know you want to know - Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins.

Then we woke up JP, packed up the car and said our final "Auf Wiedersehen".




Some of us had a harder time letting go than others ;)

Before he left, so many kind family members and friends and coworkers gave him gifts to help him in his travels.  JP is very loved and extremely grateful for all he receives.  I gave him a keychain of Saint John Paul to hang on his backpack. 



I hope that our John-Paul will have as much fun as his namesake, skiing the alps and travelling around Poland in his footsteps.  We love you to the moon and back JP, and will pray for you daily.  As the Austrians say, “Grϋß Gott” (God bless you).  Have so much fun, and don't forget...

Friday, August 12, 2022

Week in Review: Rhyme Time

 What have we been up to this week?

I'll let you have a rhyming peek!

Summer eating:


Beat the heating:


Feet binding:


Selfie finding:


Zucchini season ending:


Gift card spending:


Bug catching:


Fly catching:


Hair hating:


Wedding dating:


Soccer mothering:


Table recovering:


Work weeking:


Truth speaking: